General

What is OpenMW/OpenMW-CS?

OpenMW is a free, open source, and modern engine which re-implements and extends the 2002 Gamebryo engine for the open-world role-playing game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Like the Construction Set for the original Morrowind engine, OpenMW comes with its own editor, called OpenMW-CS, which allows the user to edit or create their own mods or original games. Both OpenMW and OpenMW-CS are written from scratch, and aren’t made to support any third party programs that have been added to the original Morrowind engine to improve its functionality.

OpenMW is not a “mod” to Morrowind. It is an entirely different game engine that does not use the original Morrowind.exe in any way.

Do I need Morrowind to use OpenMW?

Yes, if you wish to play Morrowind and its expansions. You must legally own Morrowind before you can use OpenMW to play Morrowind. OpenMW is a game engine recreation and only replaces the program. OpenMW does not come with any “content” or “asset” – namely the art, game data, and other copyrighted material that you need to play the game as designed by Bethesda Softworks. You have to provide this content yourself by installing Morrowind and then configuring OpenMW to use the existing installation.

If you don’t currently own Morrowind, seriously consider buying it! It’s worth every penny, even if it’s no longer a “new” game. You can buy The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (GOTY edition) online from the usual places (sometimes in sales):

No, if you wish to play original games created with OpenMW-CS. There are several projects currently underway such as:

OpenMW-Template: A bare-bone template “game” with everything necessary to run OpenMW. It can be extended, improved and further developed using OpenMW-CS.

OpenMW-Example-Suite: This uses the OpenMW-Template as a starting part and is OpenMW’s first official “game”, used to show off the OpenMW engine and give content creators an idea on what they can do with the engine.

Additionally, OpenMW can be used for running entirely new games created with OpenMW-CS.

Is OpenMW a mod?

No, OpenMW is an entirely new engine, which extends beyond the scope of a typical game modification.

A game is made up of two components:

The game content, which contains the files that make up what you see, hear, and do in the game. Game content mods would be the typical ESP/ESM plugin-based mod or mesh/texture replacers.

The game engine, which reads and interprets the game content for the player to interact with. Engine mods would be things like MCP, MWSE, and MGE-XE that directly modify Morrowind.exe

OpenMW does not modify game content and is a completely different game engine, not a modification to the original Morrowind.exe game engine. It has a different goal and scope than game content or engine mods. Moreover, OpenMW is designed so that one day it can play game content aside from Morrowind.

Can OpenMW run mods built for the original Morrowind engine?

If the mod is a game content mod compatible with the original Morrowind engine, then it is very likely that OpenMW will be able to run it. If you have trouble getting a mod to work, post a topic on our mod compatibility sub-forum and we can help.

Mods that require Morrowind Script Extender (MWSE), Morrowind Graphics Extender (MGE), Morrowind Code Patch (MCP), or similar game engine mods are not compatible because they modify the original Morrowind.exe engine, which OpenMW replaces. The current goal of OpenMW is to implement the functionality of the original Morrowind engine, not third-party functionality extensions that modders have created over the years. This may be a future goal, however.

Note that some features from MGE and MCP are already implemented in OpenMW natively.

Why is the version number less than 1.0? Is OpenMW incomplete?

Don’t let the version number being less than 1.0 fool you: OpenMW is more stable and less buggy than the original Morrowind game engine and only lacks a few minor features.

Reaching version 1.0 signals that it has reached feature parity with the original Morrowind game engine. After that, the project will change directions and de-hardcode Morrowind game mechanics, improve modder tools, and add many new features beyond the original game engine. See this document for the complete post-1.0 roadmap.

When will OpenMW and OpenMW-CS reach version 1.0?

There are still a number of issues that need to be addressed before we believe that we have reached parity with the original Morrowind game engine and Construction Set. In particular, many of the new features we are planning for post-1.0 will require a functioning editor so that we can create mods that use them, thus bringing OpenMW-CS to parity is very important.

The best way to make sure that OpenMW and OpenMW-CS reach version 1.0 faster is to help the project however you can. We can certainly use your help writing code, testing, or generally just providing feedback.

Installation

How do I install OpenMW and load Morrowind game files?

Can I use the assets from the Xbox or Xbox 360 version of Morrowind with OpenMW?

No, there is currently no support for the Xbox version of Morrowind. Bethesda has asked us not to mix platforms in this regard, so there will be no Xbox Morrowind on the PC or any other non-Xbox platform, except for the Xbox itself and the Xbox 360.

What is the “official” status of OpenMW on alternative platforms?

The primary target platforms will always be GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. There are however various stages of support for Android, FreeBSD (and variants), Raspberry Pi and others. They will likely never be “first class citizens” unless more than one developer is actively working to maintain support.

What can you do with OpenMW on Android or Raspberry Pi?

You can run the OpenMW-Template right from the start on devices that support at least OpenGL 2.0 with ARVv7 and above.

This means OpenMW can run on a Raspberry Pi 2 provided that VC4 kernel module and userland support is there. It should be mainlined into Linux kernel 4.5 and available in Xorg as of 11.1. OpenMW will compile on Raspberry Pi B+ or earlier, getting it running will be more difficult. Feel free to experiment.

Project

Who is working on OpenMW/OpenMW-CS?

Will the main branch of OpenMW support multiplayer?

OpenMW contributors are currently directing all of their focus towards feature parity with the original Morrowind game engine, which does not include multiplayer. However, another project called TES3MP has forked OpenMW’s code in order to implement multiplayer, and is keeping up to date with changes in the official OpenMW branch. It is conceivable that the multiplayer fork could be merged back into the main branch when both projects are in a suitable state for it. This would allow for a single app that can run both singleplayer and multiplayer Morrowind.

Does Bethesda Softworks approve of this project? Won’t you guys have legal problems?

Bethesda Softworks is well aware of OpenMW and has given us approval to continue working on it, so long as certain conditions are followed.

We had a long email conversation with Matt Grandstaff which can be read on the wiki. There was a misunderstanding as to what OpenMW is (a new game engine) and isn’t (a Morrowind port) that was cleared up. Bethesda Softworks has asked us to not promote any images or videos of OpenMW running Morrowind on Android or other mobile platforms, and we agreed to comply with this request. Anything else, is fair game, such as displaying videos of OpenMW running the OpenMW-Template on Android on the blog.

We do not condone, nor are responsible, for other websites that show (in images or video) Morrowind running on an Android device.

Do you accept donations? Where can I send the money?

OpenMW itself won’t accept monetary donations. The best donation a non-developer can give is testing, feedback, and publicity.

However, there are individual developers that would be happy to spend more time on improving open source software and libraries used by OpenMW such as OpenSceneGraph, OpenAL-Soft and MyGUI. If you wish to support them, you can donate directly to them and it will benefit OpenMW as well as all the other projects they are contributing to.

License and legal stuff

This website, its author, and OpenMW are not in any way associated with or supported by Bethesda Softworks or ZeniMax Media Inc. OpenMW is a completely hobbyist project.

This website does NOT distribute any game data or other copyrighted content not owned by the author. You MUST own a legal copy of Morrowind before you can use OpenMW to play Morrowind. We absolutely do NOT support nor condone pirated versions of the game. All source code is written from scratch and is released under the GNU General Public License version 3.

All fonts, shaders and other assets shipped with OpenMW are licensed under separate terms. Details can be found in the Readme file or in the Wiki.

Morrowind, Tribunal, Bloodmoon, The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax and their respective logos are registered trademarks of ZeniMax Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

All textures, models, designs, sounds and music reproduced in screenshots and videos are the property of ZeniMax Media Inc. unless otherwise specified.

Tools

OpenMW is an attempt to reimplement the popular role playing game Morrowind. It aims to be a fully playable, open source implementation of the game. You must own Morrowind to use OpenMW. You can watch short video-faq or read detailed information on our FAQ page. OpenMW is an attempt to remake the Morrowind - brilliant role playing game. We're trying to remade Morrowind using open source tools and libraries. You won't need any Morrowind patches, because OpenMW will fix most common Morrowind engine bugs. It's worth to mention that OpenMW is open source Morrowind engine remake which allow much greater modability: change game rules, create new spell effects, etc. through scripting. With OpenMW you will be able to run Morrowind overhaul mods, texture replacers and much more like with original engine.